Hindu Temple Offers Unity In Art

Guard Sculptures To Welcome All

MIDDLETOWN — Jaya and Vijaya have no hands at the moment, but that's OK.

The two Hindu bodyguards are still being sculpted out of wire, brick and concrete by Indian artisans brought in to work on the state's only Hindu temple.

The eight men are expected to transform the Middletown temple into a showcase of religious art using a variety of Hindu styles. In essence, their orders are to create a unique temple with a deliberately diverse architecture where any Hindu would feel welcome.

``My view is that not only is this art important to the public, but it is important to talk about the meaning behind the art,'' said Dr. Velandy Manohar, chairman of the temple's board of trustees. ``This could be the centerpoint of our community.''

The Connecticut Valley Hindu Temple Society wants anyone to feel welcome in its building across the road from Middlesex Community-Technical College, largely because it's the only Hindu temple around.

With Hinduism a large and diverse religion, creating a space where any Hindu feels welcome is roughly akin to making a church where any Christian feels comfortable.

Although it may seem like a daunting task, Rajamanickam Sarvaraja and his crew of craftsmen said they relish the creative challenge. Everything made for a Hindu temple has a mythological meaning, they say.

Small and compact, with a mustache and black hair starting to gray, the 46-year-old Sarvaraja was taught his craft by his uncle, starting at age 15. In the 30 years since, he has worked on more than 30 temples from Albany to Montreal to small villages in India.

Through a translator, he says the Connecticut temple is enjoyable because of the different styles his crew can work in. In one part of the temple, his craftsmen have already created carvings in a southern Indian style with a Bengali influence. In another area, they plan to create temple sanctums in the classic Chola style, named after a dynasty of Indian kings.

Everywhere, there is liberal use of leaf and flower motifs, sensuous and intricate curves, and carved lions.

The temple's main deity, Sri Satyanarayana, and his consorts Lakshmi and Bhoodevi, were carved in India out of granite in the Hoysala style, named for an Indian dynasty that ruled during the 11th to 13th centuries.

The temple's main inner sanctum is still under construction, surrounded by cinder block walls and red brick steps within the high-ceilinged main room. Concrete ornamental work is being cast in rubber molds, and additional concrete carvings will be prepared for the sanctum.

The main deity will be installed next year in April or May during an elaborate week-long consecration ceremony, said temple architect Barun Basu. The sun must be in ascent, and the deity carefully lowered to its base, where it must maintain contact with the earth in perpetuity.

``You can't even nick it,'' Basu said. ``If you nick it you must throw it away.''

This is Basu's seventh temple. It also his most personal work, because this is where he worships. Although there are some scriptural requirements for the artwork, Basu said the temple's leaders are trying not to interfere with the artisans' creativity.

Generally, Sarvaraja sketches ideas on paper and presents them for approval. Sometimes there are modifications, sometimes not. The larger works are then drawn on pieces of plywood before they are rendered in concrete.

For work on statues like Jaya and Vijaya, the artisans use assorted tools ranging from an electrical circular saw to picks, spades and even a butter knife for slathering on wet concrete.

The work is expected to take several more months, at an approximate cost of $180,000. It took a couple of months of bureaucratic wrangling -- including an appeal to U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman's office for help -- just to get the men to Middletown.

They live in the temple's downstairs hall and generally work their own hours -- sometimes sleeping all day and working all night, or working 12-hour days without stopping for meals.

They haven't had much time for sightseeing, just shopping trips with the temple priest. The men say the only drawback to such a long assignment is that they miss their families in India.